What Would Lucille Ball Do?

What’s that quote…something about only regretting the things you don’t do? Let’s go with a quote from Lucille Ball, who said, “I’d rather regret the things I have done than the things I haven’t.”

Four years ago today my mom died. She wasn’t even Irish, yet she passed away on St. Patrick’s Day. We were fortunate though, we had warning and we knew it was coming. We had a chance to say the things we wanted to say, and do a lot of the things we wanted to do.

Back on August 12, 2011, my mom was turning 61 and we figured that it very well may be her last birthday. We didn’t really celebrate her 60th birthday because she was going through her first round of chemo, so we wanted to do something special for this birthday.

My sister, brother, dad and I arranged to throw my mom a surprise party. We had tons of family and friends over, some who flew across the country to be there. It was beautiful and she loved it.

I, being my usual crazy self, wanted to so something that was very much out of my family’s comfort zone at the party. I wanted us to deliver speeches to my mom. I didn’t want to wait until her funeral to talk publicly about how amazing she was and how much we love her. I wanted my mom to hear the words.

So, we nervously got up in front of our family and friends. I could tell we were weirding my mom out a bit. She was looking at us out of the corner of her eye. She laughed and was a little embarrassed as I read my corny poem. My sister and brother felt awkward as they said a little something. We all giggled and moved on, shaking our heads about the crazy things I make them do.

You know what, seven months later I read our eulogy at my mom’s funeral. I cannot tell you how glad I was that we made those speeches to my mom when she was alive. I wanted her to hear those words more than anyone in that room, and she had heard them on a beautiful night when we were able to celebrate her, with her.

My lesson from that experience is to not wait a minute to celebrate all that is good in your life, from what the amazing big things to the simple little things. Live life out loud. Make every day count and realize that there is a much bigger chance that you will regret things you haven’t done that things you have done. Just ask Lucille Ball.

How will you make sure you seize the day and have no regrets?